This invention relates generally to fluid check valves and particularly to a buoy decelerator check valve which opens in response to air pressure and which closes when in contact with water.
In the air-to-sea launched ram-air inflated floatation devices described in the prior art a problem is encountered in maintaining the buoyancy of the device during high frequency vertical oscillation in the water. Once inflated, air must be retained within the floatation member to maintain sufficient buoyancy to support the buoy during deployment in the water. One prior art device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,224 to Reed et al. reveals a ram-air inflatable decelerator apparatus in which the air opening is unrestricted, allowing a sufficient amount of air to enter and inflate the member during descent and also a quantity of water to enter and seal the orifice during deployment. However, during low frequency oscillations of the member, such as in heavy seas of the order of magnitude of International sea state 5, the water level within the member becomes tenuous and may at times fall aside or below the air opening, allowing air to escape from the member and causing it to deflate.